Sunday Morning Coming Down

The Florida Derby and the UAE Derby will be run on Saturday at Gulfstream Park and Meyden Race Course in Dubai.  Runner in both of these races have come from previous wins at other tracks and are looking for big races.  Some of these are name horses horses that were mentioned prominently in Future Book betting.  Others may be looking for that bolt of lightening to move them forward. The Florida Derby has produced fifteen Kentucky Derby winners, including the 2017 winner: Always Dreaming.  The race also produced Swale and Alydar.  The race is run at 1mile and 1/8 at is worth $1,000,000. The field is deep featuring Strike Power, Promises Fulfilled, Catholic Boy, Audible, and Mississippi.  The winner will most likely come from this group. Todd Pletcher trains the favorite Audible.  I'm hoping for a big race from Mississippi. The UAE Derby from Dubai is an interesting race to watch.  The accents are particularly British and there are two favorit...

I didn't watch much of the coverage of the March to Save Our Lives.  I did not go out to any of the local events either.  I went to a yard sale, I watched Loyola play basketball, and ate baked ziti cooked at Moose Lodge 1874.   I watched the Louisiana Derby on my computer. I read a newspaper column written by a high school friend complaining of  "Trump Fatigue".  He hasn't written about gun control, I don't think he is a big gun owner, but he does live in rural Missouri and his silence is understandable. Later that evening I listened to my little sister recount the day as she saw it in Washington DC.  She was moved by the experience. This morning, (Monday) I read a column written by Fabiola Santiago that mixed Emma Gonzalez, the Castro Revolution, sensible gun control, the optics of olive green fatigues and how it pisses off certain members of the Miami(mostly Cuban) community.  She is in favor of the the student activism. Laura Ingraham l...

From "Growing Up In Bensenville" Not Sure what the old Church was called but the new one is called the "True Jesus Church". In one of my travel videos, someone asked me if there was still a church on the southwest corner of Church Rd and Third Ave. There is. It is now called “True Jesus Church”. WWAST What would Albert Schweitzer think? 

My little sister went to Washington D.C. this weekend to visit family and as luck would have it participate in the "March For Our Lives".  I can think of a lot of two for ones that work out but this one seems very important.  Spring Break is happening and this is something positive that can happen on a "Spring Break".  The stated goal of the march is demand specific actions on gun control and related issues on school safety. I am not a gun owner intentionally.  I can understand folks that may choose to own guns for personal safety or hunting.  I am one of the 78% of the population that does not own a gun. It about time that folks without guns, gun owners, and the high school student organizers stand up for better gun control laws and background checks to keep guns out of the wrong hands and to deal with loopholes that allow good laws to be evaded. Lives will be saved.

There are two major prep races for the Kentucky Derby this weekend.  The Sunland Park Derby will be contested on Sunday and the Louisiana Derby will take place on Saturday.  Sunland Park is located near El Paso, Texas while the Louisiana Derby will be held at the Fair Grounds which is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sunland Park's derby is an $800,000, 1 1/8 mile affair.  Mine That Bird is probably the most notorious horse to have run at Sunland Park.  In the days before points Mine that Bird finished 4th in Sunland Derby and 2nd in the Borderland Derby in 2009.  He went on to win the Kentucky Derby, finish 2nd in the Preakness, and 3rd in the Belmont. The 2018 Sunland Derby is a very very wide open race. The comment from Horse Racing Nation say it all:   "All Out Blitz and Hollywood Star look like the logical top win contenders here, with either of them ready to prove themselves Kentucky Derby-ready. The former has shown consistency and should ...

There are more than a few that doubt this is a good way to improve our relationship with Russia. Senator McCain of Arizona was correct when he called out President Trump for a congratulating Vladimir Putin on his reelection.  “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free election." A cursory look at the various conflicts around the world between the United States and the Soviet Union and now Russia would suggest that caution be taken in dealing with Russia on every level. Whether in proxy wars, espionage, or elections or just about any other endeavor we adversaries and not allies.  A congratulatory phone call to guy that seems more like a dictator is a very weak response if we are to continue as the leader of the free world.  It is almost impossible to understand why he would i...

If you live in Miami you can't escape the story of the collapse of the pedestrian bridge across the Tamiami Trail to FIU.  You can watch the bridge collapse from the perspective of the cars that approached the bridge that had been just placed over the road about a week ago.  It's called accelerated bridge construction.  What follows is a description of the benefits of accelerated bridge construction according to a report by CNN. "Unlike traditional methods of construction, ABC streamlines the building process so that bridge projects can be completed quicker and more cost-effectively. By employing ABC technology, State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) can refurbish or construct new bridges within 48 to 72 hours, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA). The accelerated time reduces traffic delays and road closures that frustrate commuters and can increase construction expenses. Oth...

There are probably more than two good things about walking out of class this morning but I'll highlight my biggest issues. THE PROBLEM IS BIG In 2015 there were about 13,000 people killed in gun violence in the United States.  It is also estimated that more folks were killed by guns at home on the homefront in the USA between 1968 and 2011 than during wartime from the War of Independence and the Iraq War.  There were about 1.17 million folks killed in all our wars.  According to the CDC and Politifact there were about 1.3 million gun related deaths during the period mentioned.  You may not like the numbers or question them but it seems clear there are way too many gun related deaths and there are ways to reduce those numbers without the scare tactics, slippery slope arguments used by the NRA to stop reforms. A serious public health study of the issues related to gun ownership is better than ignoring the issue as has been done previously. CITIZENSHIP REQUIRES AC...

The Rebel Stakes is the 2nd of three  big Kentucky Derby Prep Races run at Oaklawn Park this year.  The race run at  a 1 1/16 mile, the purse is $900,000, grade ll and the race is worth 50 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby.  It is also the final prep race for the Grade l Arkansas Derby. American Pharoah won the 2015 Rebel on the way to the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown.  Curlin and Smarty Jones have also won the Rebel which was established in 1961. Bob Baffert trains the likely favorite Solomini.  Baffert has won six of the last eight Rebel Stakes.  Trainers Todd Pletcher, D. Wayne Lucas, and Steve Asmussen will challenge Bob Baffert. The results in the Rebel will do much to clarify the Derby picture, the field is deep and the winner should be very worthy. 

Turfway Park used to be called Latonia Race Course and The Jeff Ruby Steaks used to be called the Spiral Stakes that lead to the Keeneland Blue Grass Stakes.  The race is worth forty points to the winner and that may be enough to earn a ticket to Churchill Downs. Fast and Accurate won last year's race and went to the Kentucky Derby where he finished 17th. March 17, 2018 will be a big day at Turfway Park.  The Jeff Ruby Steaks is a mile and 1 and 1/8 and the purse is $200,000.  There are six stakes races scheduled for the day.  Dale Roman and Todd Pletcher both have probable entries for the race better known as the Spiral Stakes. Big name trainers have owners that spent big bucks and have dreams of running in the Kentucky Derby.  At this point there doesn't seem to be a clear cut favorite and for that reason you might check out the Spiral Stakes for another contender.

The Loyola Ramblers will play the University of Miami Hurricanes on Thursday, in the opening round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  My mind spun back to when the Ramblers won the NCAA championship in 1963 beating Cincinati in overtime, 60-58 on a tip in by Vic Rouse.  I remember three other starters Les Hunter, Jerry Harkness, and John Egan.  The NCAA Basketball Championship Team was coached by was George Ireland. Loyola beat Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference last Sunday. This year UM, WVU and now Loyola(of Chicago) will get some attention as I finally watch college basketball with some serious interest as I monitor how good my bracket goes or doesn't go.

As the time changed this morning I had the stellar opportunity to listen to a sports commentator wax on and on about the "comeback" of Tiger Woods.  The comeback consists of being 2nd behind Corey Connor in the Valspar with the final round this afternoon.  If Tiger Woods wins this afternoon or plays well it will set him up for his next try at the Masters in three weeks.  A nice story for golf fans but still very much a work in progress.

There are three major prep races for the 2018 Kentucky derby on March 10, 2018 at Tampa Bay Downs, Aqueduct, and Santa Anita.   Last week’s winner of the Fountain of Youth, at Gulfstream, Promises Fulfilled lit up the tote board winning wire to wire paying $38.40 to win.   Good Magic, the short money favorite finished 3 rd and probably needed the race. The Gotham is understandably run at the Big A (Aqueduct) in New York.   The race has produced several Kentucky Winners and the winner will most likely go to the Kentucky Derby.   Secretariat won the Gotham in 1973.   The race has been run since 1953, the purse is $400,000 and the favorite is Firenze Fire, trained by Jason Servis but there will be other contenders for the 100 points and the ticket to Louisville. The Lambsholm Tampa Bay Derby, Florida’s second derby and a grade II race since 2011 is run at Tampa Bay Downs, the purse is $350,000.   The field is a wide open with trainers Pletcher, M...

Today is National Beer Day in Iceland.  It celebrates the lifting of a ban on beer that ended in 1989. In 1908 Iceland banned the sale of all alcoholic spirits.  Those long nights and alcohol probably lead to many issues.  The United States also tried to ban alcohol and that was a failure.  The ban on beer lasted longer than you might have thought for a variety of reasons but the one I've heard most often is that too much beer can lead to sloth like behavior.  Personally I believe it is the fact that many Icelanders like alcohol as much as they like reading. The ban on alcohol was dismantled piecemeal as parts of trade deals but the ban on beer was continued until 1989. Today I will look for some Einstock Ale at Total Wines.